Farmers count losses as flood destroys farms in Adamawa

Farmers along River Benue are counting their losses after a flood incident that submerged hundreds of farmlands and destroyed crops across nine local areas in Adamawa State.

ADVERTISEMENT

The flood caused havoc in several communities in Yola South, Yola North, Girei, Fufore, Numan, Demsa, Lamorde, Guyuk and Shelleng, among others, as houses were completely submerged in some cases for several days.

Jibrilla Marafa, the village head of Njoboliyo in Yola South Local Area, who spoke to journalists, said more than 100 hectares of farmlands in the village were washed way, saying the incident dashed the hope of the hardworking farmers in his domain.

ADVERTISEMENT

The traditional leader called on the authorities at all levels of government to assist the affected farmers to ameliorate their suffering and avert food crisis in the area.

Thompson Bemi, a farmer and fisher man in Njoboliyo, lamented that since the incident, he had been jobless as all his investment in rice production was washed away while the fishing tools he used to complement his income were also lost.

Maaruf Boranji, a rice farmer in Boranji in Yola South, said he had expected a harvest of 50 bags of rice from his farm before the flood destroyed the crops, adding that the farm was developed with all the money he saved over the years.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Waziri Ahmadu , said the state had contacted the federal government with a view to getting some assistance for the affected farmers in the nine local areas hit by the flood.

He added that the state held and extended executive council meeting that included special advisers and assistants to Governor Muhammadu Jibrilla as well as permanent secretaries in order to have wider views on the best way to handle the disaster.

“The flood washed away crops that are planted in low land areas like rice, and in some cases maize. At the level of government, we at the Ministry of Agriculture have appealed to the federal government and they promised to assist. We are concerned because farmers could not harvest what they planted,” he said.